Musical thoughts and ramblings by Michael Teager

Tag Archives: erik thompson

If you’re a musician or know one personally, then the past ten days or so have likely affected your blood pressure. What started as a simple All Songs Considered blog post (that annoyed me) snowballed into an all-out blitzkrieg throughout the net, with guns blazing (bombs dropping?) from all sides: for, against, attempting to find compromise, tearing everyone down, etc. I even received some flak for my quickly-written rant.

Because no one wants to read yet another article on this topic, suffice it to say that I stand by my two big points from last weekend:
1. NPR’s Emily White illegally acquired most of her library, despite her stating otherwise via some creative rationality.
2. My beef was not with Emily White specifically. What she wrote bothered me, but, as I stated last week, I know that she’s one of millions. Instead, I was “shocked and chagrined” by NPR Music’s de facto endorsement of her position by allowing its publication via All Songs Considered. After all, NPR Music is a major media organization that relies heavily on listener support. An interesting juxtaposition if you ask me…

Anyway, I thought it’d be worthwhile to curate a number of last week’s posts related to this issue for anyone wanting to return to the battlefield. While I have so much to say on this topic, I need a mental vacation from it. (And I’m also scrambling to pack…) I’m not necessarily endorsing the POV of all of the below articles. I full agree with some, fully disagree with others, and have mixed feelings about most.

PS: For giggles, I decided to listen to a little Cracker, for which I paid many years ago, when clicking “Publish.” That, coupled with all my previous contributions to NPR, should help to bring balance to The Force.